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WORLD
ORDER
MARCH, 1945
THE BIRTH OF THE BAHÁ’Í REVELATION—Shoghi Effendi
ISLÁM, Part Two—Emeric Sala
HOW CIVILIAZATIONS DIE, Editorial—Horace Holley
RACE AND MAN, Book Review—Maye Harvey Gift
NAW-RÚZ, Poem—Elizabeth Hackley
THE LIGHT OF LIFE, Poem—Vinson Brown
WITH OUR READERS
INDEX
THE BAHÁ’Í MAGAZINE
World Order was founded March 21, 1910 as Bahá’í News, the first organ of the American Bahá’ís. In March, 1911, its title was changed to Star of the West. Beginning November, 1922 the magazine appeared under the name of The Bahá’í Magazine. The issue of April, 1935 carried the present title of World Order, combining The Bahá’í Magazine and World Unity, which had been founded October, 1927. The present number represents Volume XXXV of the continuous Bahá’í publication.
WORLD ORDER is published monthly in Wilmette, Ill., by the Publishing Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. EDITORS: Garreta Busey, Gertrude K. Henning, Horace Holley, Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick.
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MARCH, 1945, VOLUME X, NUMBER 12
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matter April 1, 1940, at the post office at Wilmette, Ill., under the Act of March
3, 1879. Contents copyrighted 1944 by Bahá’í Publishing Committee. Title
registered at U. S. Patent Office.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS SHOULD BE REPORTED
ONE MONTH IN ADVANCE
WORLD ORDER
The Bahá’í Magazine
VOLUME X MARCH, 1945 NUMBER 12
The Birth of the Bahá’í Revelation
SHOGHI EFFENDI
THE circumstances in which
the Vehicle of this newborn
Revelation, following with such
swiftness that of the Báb, received
the first intimations of
His sublime mission recall, and
indeed surpass in poignancy the
soul-shaking experience of Moses
when confronted by the Burning
Bush in the wilderness of Sinai;
of Zoroaster when awakened to
His mission by a succession of
seven visions; of Jesus when coming
out of the waters of the Jordan
He saw the heavens opened
and the Holy Ghost descend like
a dove and light upon Him; of
Muḥammad when in the Cave of
Hira, outside of the holy city of
Mecca, the voice of Gabriel bade
Him “cry in the name of Thy
Lord”; and of the Báb when in a
dream He approached the bleeding
head of the Imám Ḥusayn,
and, quaffing the blood that
dripped from his lacerated
throat, awoke to find Himself
the chosen recipient of the outpouring
grace of the Almighty.
What, we may well inquire at
this juncture, were the nature and
implications of that Revelation
which, manifesting itself so soon
after the Declaration of the Báb,
abolished, at one stroke, the Dispensation
which that Faith had so
newly proclaimed, and upheld,
with such vehemence and force,
the Divine authority of its Author?
What, we may well pause
to consider, were the claims of
Him Who, Himself a disciple of
the Báb, had, at such an early
stage, regarded Himself as empowered
to abrogate the Law
identified with His beloved Master?
What, we may further reflect,
could be the relationship
between the religious Systems established
before Him and His
own Revelation—a Revelation
which, flowing out, in that extremely
perilous hour, from His
travailing soul, pierced the
[Page 362]
gloom that had settled upon that
pestilential pit, and, bursting
through its walls, and propagating
itself as far as the ends of the
earth, infused into the entire
body of mankind its boundless
potentialities, and is now under
our very eyes, shaping the
course of human society?
He Who in such dramatic circumstances was made to sustain the overpowering weight of so glorious a Mission was none other than the One Whom posterity will acclaim, and Whom innumerable followers already recognize, as the Judge, the Lawgiver and Redeemer of all mankind, as the Organizer of the entire planet, as the Unifier of the children of men, as the Inaugurator of the long-awaited millennium, as the Originator of a new “Universal Cycle,” as the Establisher of the Most Great Peace, as the Fountain of the Most Great Justice, as the Proclaimer of the coming of age of the entire human race, as the Creator of a new World Order, and as the Inspirer and Founder of a world civilization.
To Israel He was neither more nor less than the incarnation of the “Everlasting Father,” the “Lord of Hosts” come down “with ten thousands of saints”; to Christendom Christ returned “in the glory of the Father,” to Shí‘ah Islám the return of the Imám Ḥusayn; to Sunní Islám the descent of the “Spirit of God” (Jesus Christ); to the Zoroastrians the promised Sháh-Bahrám; to the Hindus the reincarnation of Krishna; to the Buddhists the fifth Buddha.
In the name He bore He
combined those of the Imám
Ḥusayn, the most illustrious of
the successors of the Apostle of
God—the brightest “star” shining
in the “crown” mentioned in
the Revelation of St. John—and
of the Imám ‘Alí, the Commander
of the Faithful, the second
of the two “witnesses” extolled
in that same Book. He was
formally designated Bahá’u’lláh,
an appellation specifically recorded
in the Persian Bayán, signifying
at once the glory, the
light and the splendor of God,
and was styled the “Lord of
Lords,” the “Most Great Name,”
the “Ancient Beauty,” the “Pen
of the Most High,” the “Hidden
Name,” the “Preserved Treasure,”
“He Whom God will make
manifest,” the “Most Great
Light,” the “All-Highest Horizon,”
the “Most Great Ocean,”
the “Supreme Heaven,” the “Pre-Existent
Root,” the “Self-Subsistent,”
the “Day-Star of the
Universe,” the “Great Announcement,”
the “Speaker on Sinai,”
the “Sifter of Men,” the
“Wronged One of the World,”
the “Desire of the Nations,” the
[Page 363]
“Lord of the Covenant,” the
“Tree beyond which there is no
passing.” He derived His descent,
on the one hand, from Abraham
(the Father of the Faithful)
through his wife Katurah,
and on the other from Zoroaster,
as well as from Yazdigird, the
last king of the Sásáníyán dynasty.
He was moreover a descendant
of Jesse, and belonged,
through His father, Mírzá Buzurg
—a nobleman closely associated
with the ministerial circles of the
Court of Fath-‘Alí Sháh—to one
of the most ancient and renowned
families of Mázindarán.
To Him Isaiah, the greatest of the Jewish prophets, had alluded as the “Glory of the Lord,” the “Everlasting Father,” the “Prince of Peace,” the “Wonderful,” the “Counsellor,” the “Rod come forth out of the stem of Jesse” and the “Branch grown out of His roots,” Who “shall be established upon the throne of David,” Who “will come with strong hand,” Who “shall judge among the nations,” Who “shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips slay the wicked,” and Who “shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.” Of Him David had sung in his Psalms, acclaiming Him as the “Lord of Hosts” and the “King of Glory.” To Him Haggai had referred as the “Desire of all nations,” and Zachariah as the “Branch” Who “shall grow up out of His place,” and “shall build the Temple of the Lord.” Ezekiel had extolled Him as the “Lord” Who “shall be king over all the earth,” while to His day Joel and Zephaniah had both referred as the “day of Jehovah,” the latter describing it as “a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.” His Day Ezekiel and Daniel, had, more over, both acclaimed as the “day of the Lord,” and Malachi described as “the great and dreadful day of the Lord” when “the Sun of Righteousness” will “arise, with healing in His wings,” whilst Daniel had pronounced His advent as signalizing the end of the “abomination that maketh desolate.”
To His Dispensation the sacred
books of the followers of Zoroaster
had referred as that in
which the sun must needs be
brought to a standstill for no less
than one whole month. To Him
Zoroaster must have alluded
when, according to tradition, He
foretold that a period of three
thousand years of conflict and
[Page 364]
contention must needs precede
the advent of the World-Savior
Sháh-Bahrám, Who would triumph
over Ahriman and usher
in an era of blessedness and
peace.
He alone is meant by the prophecy attributed to Gautama Buddha Himself, that “a Buddha named Maitreya, the Buddha of universal fellowship” should, in the fullness of time, arise and reveal “His boundless glory.” To him the Bhagavad-Gita of the Hindus had referred as the “Most Great Spirit,” the “Tenth Avatar,” the “Immaculate Manifestation of Krishna.”
To Him Jesus Christ had referred as the “Prince of this world,” as the “Comforter” Who will “reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and judgment,” as the “Spirit of Truth” Who “will guide you into all truth,” Who “shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak,” as the “Lord of the Vineyard,” and as the “Son of Man” Who “shall come in the glory of His Father” “in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory,” with “all the holy angels” about Him, and “all nations” gathered before His throne. To Him the Author of the Apocalypse had alluded as the “Glory of God,” as “Alpha and Omega,” “the Beginning and the End,” “the First and the Last.” Identifying His Revelation with the “third woe,” He, moreover, had extolled His Law as “a new heaven and a new earth,” as the “Tabernacle of God,” as the “Holy City,” as the “New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” To His Day Jesus Christ Himself had referred as “the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of His glory.” To the hour of His advent St. Paul had alluded as the hour of the “last trump,” the “trump of God,” whilst St. Peter had spoken of it as the “Day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.” His Day he, furthermore, had described as “the times of refreshing,” “the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of His holy Prophets since the world began.”
To Him Muḥammad, the Apostle
of God, had alluded in His
Book as the “Great Announcement,”
and declared His Day to
be the Day whereon “God” will
“come down” “overshadowed
with clouds,” the Day whereon
“thy Lord shall come and the
angels rank on rank,” and “The
Spirit shall arise and the angels
shall be ranged in order.” His
advent He, in that Book, in a
[Page 365]
súrih said to have been termed
by Him “the heart of the Qur’án,”
had foreshadowed as that
of the “third” Messenger, sent
down to “strengthen” the two
who preceded Him. To His Day
He, in the pages of that same
Book, had paid a glowing tribute,
glorifying it as the “Great Day,”
the “Last Day,” the “Day of
God,” the “Day of Judgment,”
the “Day of Reckoning,” the
“Day of Mutual Deceit,” the
“Day of Severing,” the “Day of
Sighing,” the “Day of Meeting,”
the Day “when the Decree shall
be accomplished,” the Day
whereon the second “Trumpet
blast” will be sounded, the “Day
when mankind shall stand before
the Lord of the world,” and “all
shall come to Him in humble
guise,” the Day when “thou shalt
see the mountains, which thou
thinkest so firm, pass away with
the passing of a cloud,” the Day
“wherein account shall be taken,”
“the approaching Day, when
men’s hearts shall rise up, choking
them, into their throats,” the
Day when “all that are in the
heavens and all that are on the
earth shall be terror-stricken,
save him whom God pleaseth to
deliver,” the Day whereon “every
suckling woman shall forsake her
sucking babe, and every woman
that hath a burden in her womb
shall cast her burden,” the Day
“when the earth shall shine with
the light of her Lord, and the
Book shall be set, and the
Prophets shall be brought up,
and the witnesses; and judgment
shall be given between them with
equity; and none shall be
wronged.”
The plenitude of His glory the Apostle of God had, moreover, as attested by Bahá’u’lláh Himself, compared to the “full moon on its fourteenth night.” His station the Imám ‘Alí, the Commander of the Faithful, had, according to the same testimony, identified with “Him Who conversed with Moses from the Burning Bush on Sinai.” To the transcendent character of His mission the Imám Ḥusayn had, again according to Bahá’u’lláh, borne witness as a “Revelation whose Revealer will be He Who revealed” the Apostle of God Himself.
About Him Shaykh Aḥmad-i-Aḥsá‘i,
the herald of the Bábí
Dispensation, who had foreshadowed
the “strange happenings”
that would transpire “between
the years sixty and sixty-seven,”
and had categorically
affirmed the inevitability of His
Revelation had, as previously
mentioned, written the following:
“The Mystery of this Cause
must needs be made manifest,
and the Secret of this Message
must needs be divulged. I can
say no more, I can appoint no
[Page 366]
time. His Cause will be made
known after Ḥín (68)” (i.e.,
after a while).
Siyyid Káẓim-i-Rashtí, Shaykh Aḥmad’s disciple and successor, had likewise written: “The Qá’im must needs be put to death. After He has been slain the world will have attained the age of eighteen.” In his Sharḥ-i-Qaṣídy-i-Lámíyyih he had even alluded to the name “Bahá.” Furthermore, to his disciples, as his days drew to a close, he had significantly declared: “Verily, I say, after the Qá’im the Qayyúm will be made manifest. For when the star of the former has set the sun of the beauty of Ḥusayn will rise and illuminate the whole world. Then will be unfolded in all its glory the ‘Mystery’ and the ‘Secret’ spoken of by Shaykh Aḥmad. . . . To have attained unto that Day of Days is to have attained unto the crowning glory of past generations, and one goodly deed performed in that age is equal to the pious worship of countless centuries.”
The Báb had no less significantly
extolled Him as the
“Essence of Being,” as the
“Remnant of God,” as the “Omnipotent
Master,” as the “Crimson,
all-encompassing Light,” as
“Lord of the visible and invisible,”
as the “sole Object of
all previous Revelations, including
The Revelation of the Qá’im
Himself.” He had formally designated
Him as “He Whom God
shall make manifest,” had alluded
to Him as the “Abhá
Horizon” wherein He Himself
lived and dwelt, had specifically
recorded His title, and eulogized
His “Order” in His best-known
work, the Persian Bayán, had
disclosed His name through His
allusion to the “Son of ‘Alí, a
true and undoubted Leader of
men,” had, repeatedly, orally
and in writing, fixed, beyond the
shadow of a doubt, the time of
His Revelation, and warned His
followers lest “the Bayán and
all that hath been revealed therein”
should “shut them out as by
a veil” from Him. He had, moreover,
declared that He was the
“first servant to believe in Him,”
that He bore Him allegiance
“before all things were created,”
that “no allusion” of His “could
allude unto Him,” that “the year-old
germ that holdeth within
itself the potentialities of the
Revelation that is to come is
endowed with a potency superior
to the combined forces of the
whole of the Bayán.” He had,
moreover, clearly asserted that
He had “covenanted with all
created things” concerning Him
Whom God shall manifest ere
the covenant concerning His own
mission had been established.
He had readily acknowledged
that He was but “a letter” of
[Page 367]
that “Most Mighty Book,” “a
dew-drop” from that “Limitless
Ocean,” that His Revelation was
“only a leaf amongst the leaves
of His Paradise,” that “all that
hath been exalted in the Bayán”
was but “a ring” upon His own
hand, and He Himself “a ring
upon the hand of Him Whom
God shall make manifest,” Who,
“turneth it as He pleaseth, for
whatsoever He pleaseth, and
through whatsoever He pleaseth.”
He had unmistakably declared
that He had “sacrificed” Himself
“wholly” for Him, that He had
“consented to be cursed” for His
sake, and to have “yearned for
naught but martyrdom” in the
path of His love. Finally, He had
unequivocally prophesied: “Today
the Bayán is in the stage of
seed; at the beginning of the
manifestation of Him Whom God
shall make manifest its ultimate
perfection will become apparent.”
“Ere nine will have elapsed
from the inception of this Cause
the realities of the created things
will not be made manifest. All
that thou hast as yet seen is but
the stage from the moist germ
until We clothed it with flesh.
Be patient until thou beholdest
a new creation. Say: Blessed,
therefore, be God, the Most
Excellent of Makers!”
“He around Whom the Point
of the Bayán (Báb) hath revolved
is come” is Bahá’u’lláh’s
confirmatory testimony to the inconceivable
greatness and preeminent
character of His own
Revelation. “If all who are in
heaven and on earth,” He moreover
affirms, “be invested in this
day with the powers and attributes
destined for the Letters
of the Bayán, whose station is
ten thousand times more glorious
than that of the Letters of the
Qur’ánic Dispensation, and if
they one and all should, swift
as the twinkling of an eye, hesitate
to recognize My Revelation,
they shall be accounted, in the
sight of God, of those that have
gone astray, and regarded as
‘Letters of Negation.’” “Powerful
is He, the King of Divine
might,” He, alluding to Himself
in the Kitáb-i-Íqán, asserts, “to
extinguish with one letter of His
wondrous words, the breath of
life in the whole of the Bayán
and the people thereof, and with
one letter bestow upon them a
new and everlasting life, and
cause them to arise and speed
out of the sepulchers of their
vain and selfish desires.” “This,”
He furthermore declares, “is the
king of days,” the “Day of God
Himself,” the “Day which shall
never be followed by night,” the
“Springtime which autumn will
never overtake,” “the eye to past
ages and centuries,” for which
“the soul of every Prophet of
God, of every Divine Messenger,
[Page 368]
hath thirsted,” for which “all the
divers kindreds of the earth have
yearned,” through which “God
hath proved the hearts of the
entire company of His Messengers
and Prophets, and beyond
them those that stand guard over
His sacred and invisible Sanctuary,
the inmates of the Celestial
Pavilion and dwellers of
the Tabernacle of Glory.” “In
this most mighty Revelation,”
He moreover, states, “all the
Dispensations of the past have
attained their highest, their final
consummation.” And again:
“None among the Manifestations
of old, except to a prescribed
degree, hath ever completely apprehended
the nature of this
Revelation.” Referring to His
own station He declares: “But
for Him no Divine Messenger
would have been invested with
the Robe of Prophethood, nor
would any of the sacred Scriptures
have been revealed.”
And last but not least is ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s own tribute to the transcendent character of the Revelation identified with His Father: “Centuries, nay ages, must pass away, ere the Day-Star of Truth shineth again in its midsummer splendor, or appeareth once more in the radiance of its vernal glory.” “The mere contemplation of the Dispensation inaugurated by the Blessed Beauty,” He furthermore affirms, “would have sufficed to overwhelm the saints of bygone ages —saints who longed to partake for one moment of its great glory.” “Concerning the Manifestations that will come down in the future ‘in the shadows of the clouds,’ know verily,” is His significant statement, “that in so far as their relation to the source of their inspiration is concerned they are under the shadow of the Ancient Beauty. In their relation, however, to the age in which they appear, each and every one of them ‘doeth whatsoever He willeth.’” And finally stands this, His illuminating explanation, setting forth conclusively the true relationship between the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh and that of the Báb: “The Revelation of the Báb may be likened to the sun, its station corresponding to the first sign of the Zodiac—the sign of Aries—which the sun enters at the vernal equinox. The station of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation, on the other hand, is represented by the sign Leo, the sun’s mid-summer and highest station. By this is meant that this holy Dispensation is illumined with the light of the Sun of Truth shining from its most exalted station, and in the plentitude of its resplendency, its heat and glory.”
To attempt an exhaustive survey
of the prophetic references
[Page 369]
to Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation would
indeed be an impossible task.
To this the pen of Bahá’u’lláh
Himself bears witness: “All Divine
Books and Scriptures have
predicted and announced unto
men the advent of the Most Great
Revelation. None can adequately
recount the verses recorded in
the Books of former ages which
forecast this supreme Bounty,
this most mighty Bestowal.”
In conclusion of this theme, I feel, it should be stated that the Revelation identified with Bahá’u’lláh abrogates unconditionally all the Dispensations gone before it, upholds uncompromisingly the eternal verities they enshrine, recognizes firmly and absolutely the Divine origin of their Authors, preserves inviolate the sanctity of their authentic Scriptures, disclaims any intention of lowering the status of their Founders or of abating the spiritual ideals they inculcate, clarifies and correlates their functions, reaffirms their common, their unchangeable and fundamental purpose, reconciles their seemingly divergent claims and doctrines, readily and gratefully recognizes their respective contributions to the gradual unfoldment of one Divine Revelation, unhesitatingly acknowedges itself to be but one link in the chain of continually progressive Revelations, supplements their teachings with such laws and ordinances as conform to the imperative needs, and are dictated by the growing receptivity, of a fast evolving and constantly changing society, and proclaims its readiness and ability to fuse and incorporate the contending sects and factions into which they have fallen into a universal Fellowship, functioning within the framework, and in accordance with the precepts, of a divinely conceived, a world-unifying, a world-redeeming Order.
A Revelation, hailed as the
promise and crowning glory of
past ages and centuries, as the
consummation of all the Dispensations
within the Adamic
Cycle, inaugurating an era of
at least a thousand years’ duration,
and a cycle destined to last
no less than five thousand centuries,
signalizing the end of the
Prophetic Era and the beginning
of the Era of Fulfillment, unsurpassed
alike in the duration of
its Author’s ministry and the
fecundity and splendor of His
mission—such a Revelation was,
as already noted, born amidst
the darkness of a subterranean
dungeon in Ṭihrán—an abominable
pit that had once served
as a reservoir of water for one
of the public baths of the city.
Wrapped in its stygian gloom,
breathing its fetid air, numbed
by its humid and icy atmosphere,
[Page 370]
His feet in stocks, His neck
weighed down by a mighty chain,
surrounded by criminals and
miscreants of the worst order,
oppressed by the consciousness
of the terrible blot that had
stained the fair name of His beloved
Faith, painfully aware of
the dire distress that had overtaken
its champions, and of the
grave dangers that faced the
remnant of its followers—at so
critical an hour and under
such appalling circumstances the
“Most Great Spirit,” as designated
by Himself, and symbolized
in the Zoroastrian, the
Mosaic, the Christian, and Muḥammadan
Dispensations by the
Sacred Fire, the Burning Bush,
the Dove and the Angel Gabriel
respectively, descended upon,
and revealed itself, personated
by a “Maiden,” to the agonized
soul of Bahá’u’lláh.
“One night in a dream,” He Himself, calling to mind, in the evening of His life, the first stirrings of God’s Revelation within His soul, has written, “these exalted words were heard on every side: ‘Verily, We shall render Thee victorious by Thyself and by Thy pen. Grieve Thou not for that which hath befallen Thee, neither be Thou afraid, for Thou art in safety. Ere long will God raise up the treasures of the earth—men who will aid Thee through Thyself and through Thy Name, wherewith God hath revived the hearts of such as have recognized Him.’” In another passage He describes, briefly and graphically, the impact of the onrushing force of the Divine Summons upon His entire being—an experience vividly recalling the vision of God that caused Moses to fall in a swoon, and the voice of Gabriel which plunged Muḥammad into such consternation that, hurrying to the shelter of His home, He bade His wife, Khadíjih, envelop Him in His mantle. “During the days I lay in the prison of Ṭihrán,” are His own memorable words, “though the galling weight of the chains and the stench-filled air allowed Me but little sleep, still in those infrequent moments of slumber I felt as if something flowed from the crown of My head over My breast, even as a mighty torrent that precipitateth itself upon the earth from the summit of a lofty mountain. Every limb of My body would, as a result, be set afire. At such moments My tongue recited what no man could bear to hear.”
In His Súratu’l-Haykal (the
Súrih of the Temple) He thus
describes those breathless moments
when the Maiden, symbolizing
the “Most Great Spirit”
proclaimed His mission to the
entire creation: “While engulfed
[Page 371]
in tribulations I heard a most
wondrous, a most sweet voice,
calling above My head. Turning
My face, I beheld a Maiden—
the embodiment of the remembrance
of the name of My Lord
—suspended in the air before
Me. So rejoiced was she in her
very soul that her countenance
shone with the ornament of the
good-pleasure of God, and her
cheeks glowed with the brightness
of the All—Merciful. Betwixt
earth and heaven she was raising
a call which captivated the hearts
and minds of men. She was imparting
to both My inward and
outer being tidings which rejoiced
My soul, and the souls of
God’s honored servants. Pointing
with her finger unto My head, she
addressed all who are in heaven
and all who are on earth, saying:
‘By God! This is the Best-Beloved
of the worlds, and yet ye comprehend
not. This is the Beauty
of God amongst you, and the
power of His sovereignty within
you, could ye but understand.
This is the Mystery of God and
His Treasure, the Cause of God
and His glory unto all who are
in the kingdoms of Revelation
and of creation, if ye be of them
that perceive.’”
In His Epistle to Náṣiri’d-Dín
Sháh, His royal adversary, revealed
at the height of the proclamation
of His Message, occur
these passages which shed further
light on the Divine origin of
His mission: “O King! I was but
a man like others, asleep upon
My couch, when lo, the breezes
of the All-Glorious were wafted
over Me, and taught Me the
knowledge of all that hath been.
This thing is not from Me, but
from One Who is Almighty and
All-Knowing. And he bade Me
lift up My voice between earth
and heaven, and for this there
befell Me what hath caused the
tears of every man of understanding
to flow. . . . This is but
a leaf which the winds of the
will of Thy Lord, the Almighty,
the All-Praised, have stirred. . . .
His all-compelling summons hath
reached Me, and caused Me to
speak His praise amidst all people.
I was indeed as one dead
when His behest was uttered.
The hand of the will of Thy
Lord, the Compassionate, the
Merciful, transformed Me.” “By
My Life!” He asserts in another
Tablet, “Not of Mine own volition
have I revealed Myself, but
God, of His own choosing, hath
manifested Me.” And again:
“Whenever I chose to hold My
peace and be still, lo, the Voice
of the Holy Spirit, standing on
My right hand, aroused Me, and
the Most Great Spirit appeared
before My face, and Gabriel
overshadowed Me, and the Spirit
of Glory stirred within My
bosom, bidding Me arise and
[Page 372]
break My silence.”
Such were the circumstances in which the Sun of Truth arose in the city of Ṭihrán—a city which, by reason of so rare a privilege conferred upon it, had been glorified by the Báb as the “Holy Land,” and surnamed by Bahá’u’lláh “the Mother of the world,” the “Dayspring of Light,” the “Dawning-Place of the signs of the Lord,” the “Source of the joy of all mankind.” The first dawnings of that Light of peerless splendor had, as already described, broken in the city of Shíráz. The rim of that Orb had now appeared above the horizon of, the Síyáh-Chál of Ṭihrán. Its rays were to burst forth, a decade later, in Baghdád, piercing the clouds which immediately after its rise in those somber surroundings obscured its splendor. It was destined to mount to its zenith in the far-away city of Adrianople, and ultimately to set in the immediate vicinity of the fortress-town of ‘Akká.
The process whereby the effulgence of so dazzling a Revelation was unfolded to the eyes of men was of necessity slow and gradual. The first intimation which its Bearer received did not synchronize with, nor was it followed immediately by, a disclosure of its character to either His own companions or His kindred. A period of no less than ten years had to elapse ere its far-reaching implications could be directly divulged to even those who had been intimately associated with Him— a period of great spiritual ferment, during which the Recipient of so weighty a Message restlessly anticipated the hour at which He could unburden His heavily laden soul, so replete with the potent energies released by God’s nascent Revelation. All He did, in the course of this pre-ordained interval, was to hint, in veiled and allegorical language, in epistles, commentaries, prayers and treatises, which He was moved to reveal, that the Báb’s promise had already been fulfilled, and that He Himself was the One Who had been chosen to redeem it. A few of His fellow-disciples, distinguished by their sagacity, and their personal attachment and devotion to Him, perceived the radiance of the as yet unrevealed glory that had flooded His soul, and would have, but for His restraining influence, divulged His secret and proclaimed it far and wide.
Excerpt from God Passes By, Shoghi Effendi.
Islám
EMERIC SALA
Part Two
ISLÁM LED THE WORLD IN SCIENCE AND ART
SIX centuries before Columbus could prove the earth to be round, Muslim mathematicians of Kufa established its circumference at twenty-four thousand miles. It can no longer be disputed that the Crusaders who went East to punish the “heathen” Muslims returned with a course of instruction in civilization. The first university of Europe was established by the Muslims. Indeed, how often do we recall the origin of our university professors’ black gown in the Arabic Kaftan? From the eighth to the tenth century Baghdád was the world’s most civilized city. Its streets were paved and illumined, and owned elaborate waterworks; while pigs were still roaming the dark and muddy streets of London and Paris. The university of Baghdád was endowed with over three million dollars and had an attendance of six thousand students.
For four centuries Arabic was the international language of knowledge. Many Christians studied this language between the eighth and eleventh centuries and attended Muslim universities. Aristotle and Plato were re-discovered by Muslim scholars who translated many Greek manuscripts into Arabic. Algebra and astronomy were expanded by the Muslims. They are the originators of modern chemistry, meteorology and geography. One Muslim travelled for forty years collecting mineralogical specimens, while another scholar made botanical observations over the entire Muslim world. They had a passion for intellectual pursuits. The first known telescope was built for a Muslim caliph. Without the Arabic decimal system modern science and business would be impossible. Muslim surgeons were the first to dissect the human body, which was forbidden to Christians by the Church.
Many of our finest cotton
fabrics like muslin, damask, and
cambric were originated by the
Muslims. Damascus swords and
Toledo blades are still renowned.
Sugar, coffee, rice,
cherries and other fruits, reached
the European table because of
the Arabs. One of the greatest
contributions of Islám to the
Western World is the art of
[Page 374]
papermaking, which they transmitted
from China, and without
which printing and universal
education would have been impossible.
“The ninth century was essentially a Muslim century. To be sure, intellectual work did not cease in other countries; far from it; but the activity of the Muslim scholars and men of science was overwhelmingly superior. They were the real standard bearers of civilization in those days. . . . The overwhelming superiority of Muslim culture continued to be felt throughout the tenth century. Indeed, it was felt more strongly than ever, not only because the foremost men of science were Muslims, but also because cultural influences are essentially cumulative. . . . To be sure, other languages, such as Latin, Greek, or Hebrew were also used by scholars, but the works written in those languages contained nothing new. . . . All the new discoveries and the new thoughts were published in Arabic. Strangely enough, the language of the Qur’án had thus become the international vehicle of scientific progress.” (George Sarton, Introduction to the History of Science, Vol. I.) Arabic, which before Muḥammad had only a tribal significance, became a world language. The desire of every Muslim to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca brought together scholars from the most distant countries, and thus scientific knowledge rapidly spread and new discoveries were easily exchanged in all parts of Islám.
While Christian Europe was
enveloped in darkness and gloom,
overshadowed by ecclesiastical
intolerance, Muḥammad, the
founder of an independent religion,
established a civilization
which our historians have as yet
not satisfactorily explained. Sarton,
referring to Islám, admits
that “The creation of a new
civilization of international and
encyclopaedic magnitude within
less than two centuries is something
that we can describe, but
not completely explain. . . . It
was the most creative movement
of the Middle Ages down to the
thirteenth century.” While the
Christian world was burning
alive those who dared to question
established dogmas, Islám encouraged
free thought and developed
the experimental method,
which is the foundation of modern
science. Before Muḥammad
men dared not experiment, for
fear of “evil” spirits. By destroying
the ikons Muḥammad dealt
a mortal blow to many superstitions
and elemental fears of his
time, and prepared the field for
scientific inquiry. He said: “Science
is the remedy for the infirmities
[Page 375]
of ignorance, a comforting
beacon in the light of
injustice.” Further historians
might, by implication, recognize
as an essential foundation stone
of our modern world the famous
statement of Muḥammad: “The
ink of the scholar is more holy
than the blood of the martyr”.
Knowledge of reading and writing
became a universal accomplishment.
All Muḥammadans
read in the Qur’án that ignorance
is the greatest poverty, that a
mind without education is like
a brave man without arms, and
that knowledge increases the
honor of princes and brings men
of low degree into the palaces of
kings. “The day on which I have
learned nothing is no part of my
life” is an oft-quoted Arab
saying.
The Muslims were kind and tolerant to their non-Muslim subjects. Under their patronage many important works in Arabic were published by Christians, Jews and Sabaeans. Down to the twelfth century Arabic was the philosophic and scientific language of the Jews. The greatest Jewish treatise of the Middle Ages was written by Maimonides in Arabic.
Christianity was slow in recognizing Islám as the source of the Renaissance. Through the impact of Islamic scholarship, mainly in Sicily and Spain, Europe became civilized. “Let us compare the two civilizations,” said Seignobos in his Histoire de la Civilisation au Moyan Age, which in the eleventh century divided the Ancient World. “In the West—miserable little cities, peasant’s huts and great fortresses —a country always troubled by war, where one could not travel ten leagues without running the risk of being robbed; and in the Orient—Constantinople, Cairo, Damascus, Baghdád —all cities of the ‘Arabian Nights,’ with their marble palaces, their workshops, their schools, their bazaars, their villages and with the incessant movement of merchants who traveled in peace from Spain to Persia. There is no doubt that the Mussulman and Byzantine worlds were richer, better policed, better lighted than the western world. In the eleventh century these two worlds began to become acquainted; the barbarous Christians came into contact with the civilied Musslmans in two ways—by war and by commerce. And by contact with the Orientals the Occidentals became civilized.”
THE QUR’ÁN AND ITS TEACHING
Just as the Old and New Testament
are the most important and
most widely read books in the
Christian World, the Qur’án represents
[Page 376]
the most important event
to a world of almost three hundred
million Muslims. It is
doubtful if Muḥammad could
read or write, since his sayings
were recorded by his followers
on palm-leaves, skins and bones.
His magnificent style testifies to
the source of his inspiration.
“The Qurán is written in the
rhetorical style and, as Arabic
literature, has never been
equalled.” (E. H. Palmer, Sacred
Books of the East.) Its
voice is pure, of a pristine beauty
and an elevated character. “The
genius of his language invested
his message with poetic majesty.
There is a necessary rhythm in
the very structure of it which
echoes alike from mosque and
synagogue and cathedral.” (G.
G. Atkins and G. S. Braden,
Procession of the Gods.) The
Qur’án was until 1844 the last
revealed book of a religion of
faith, the last authority for devotion
and good works. It taught
certainty of God and His Will
and obedience thereto under all
conditions.
“Righteousness is not that ye turn your faces toward the east or the west, but righteousness is belief in God, and the last day and the Angels, and the Book, and the prophets, and giving of wealth for His love to kindred, and orphans, and the poor, and the son of the road, and beggars, and those in captivity; steadfastness in prayer, and in giving alms; and in surety of their covenant; and the patience in poverty, and distress, and in time of violence; these are they who are true, and these are those who fear.” (Qur’án, Sura II 170.) That God is one, and the art of self-forgetfulness is the message of the Qur’án. “No man is a true believer, unless he desireth for his brother that which he desireth for himself” is taken from the Qur’án though it would fit the Bible. Charity is not less known to Islám than to Christianity. “A man’s true wealth hereafter,” said Muḥammad, “is the good he does in this world to his fellowmen.” Muḥammad never questioned the authority of the Jewish or Christian Scriptures. “We believe in God,” says the second chapter of the Qur’án, “and that which hath been sent down unto Abraham and Ishmael, and Isaac and Jacob, and that which was delivered unto Moses and Jesus, we make no distinction between any of them, and to God we are resigned.”
The Bible and the Qur’án are
more similar than unlike to each
other. What Christian would
hesitate to read the following
prayer taken from the Qur’án:
“O Lord, grant to me the love of
Thee; grant that I may love those
that love Thee; grant that I may
[Page 377]
do the deed that may win Thy
love; make Thy love to be dearer
to me than self, family or than
wealth.” Muslims pray five times
a day, at regular intervals, which
explains perhaps their peace of
mind. During the month of Ramadan
men and women, rich or
poor, refrain from food or drink
from sunrise to sunset. Fasting
must have accomplished some
social leveling in a world where
so many went hungry all year
round. The rich fasting for one
month out of love for their Creator
could not help but be charitable
to the destitute during the
remaining months of the year.
It is also known that most Muslims
paid annually the voluntary
poor tax of two and a half per
cent of the capital value of all
their earthly possessions.
Muḥammad laid down very strict laws for cleanliness. The description of an English writer’s visit to a Muslim village is interesting to quote: “He became tremendously impressed with the cleanliness of the Malays as compared with the filthiness of the pagans, and reflected that no other religion, with the exception of Judaism, had taught the poorer classes the law of cleanliness, so essential to dwellers in hot countries.” (Owen Rutter, Triumphant Pilgrimage.)
WOMEN IN ISLÁM
Polygamy was very common in primitive societies. Frequent wars, excess of women and their usefulness as laborers established polygamy amongst pastoral and agricultural people. In the time of Muḥammad polygamy or concubinage were universally practiced. Moses did not impose any limit on the number of wives for one man. Only later did the Talmud counsel that a man should have no more wives than he could properly maintain. Not until the eleventh century A.D. was polygamy prohibited amongst the Jews. An Athenian could have as many wives as he wanted, and a high-caste Brahmin, even today, can marry all the wives he chooses. The Roman State gave legal sanction to the institution of concubinage, and so did China until as recently as 1931.
Christ did not forbid the universal
practice of polygamy.
Concubinage was sanctioned by
the Synod of Toledo in 400 A.D.,
and was not suppressed until the
fifth Lateran Council in 1516.
Early Christian emperors, nobles
and priests were known as polygamous.
Charlemagne, amongst
other Merovingian kings, had
two wives and several concubines.
Centuries later Philip of
Hesse and Frederick William I
of Prussia entered bigamous marriages
with the sanction of the
Lutheran Church. After the devastating
[Page 378]
Thirty Years’ War the
population was so greatly reduced
that in 1650 the Kreistag
at Nuremberg passed a resolution
allowing every man to marry
two women. Even St. Augustine
could not find a plurality of
wives so reprehensible, for he
declared that polygamy was not
a crime where it was legally practiced.
German reformers of the
sixteenth century are known to
have approved of a second or
third wife simultaneously with
the first, if the latter remained
without issue.
Muḥammad did not invent polygamy but actually restricted it, by limiting a man’s wives to four. In his time the position of women was very much inferior to what it is today. A Hebrew father could sell his daughter as a minor, and in case of his death his sons could dispose of her at their pleasure. Among pagan Arabs, women counted as an integral part of man’s estate and were trained and disposed of by father or husband as any other chattel. The Arabs were known to have buried their infant daughters alive, a practice which Muḥammad denounced under very severe penalties. To such people Muḥammad taught respect for women by saying: “The best of you are those who are best to their wives. To acquire knowledge is an equal duty of man and woman. . . . Woman is a queen in her own house.” Under Muslim code a woman is not her husband’s possession and enjoys rights as an independent human being. She has equal rights in court, can sell or dispose of her properties without the consent of her husband, can sue, and has a definite share in inheritance, privileges which Western women have been enjoying only since the turn of this century.
Those who blame Muḥammad for polygamy should remember that for twenty-five years he was married to his first wife, Khadijah, and only after her death, when he was over fifty, did he accept several wives, as was the local and almost universal custom at that time. Ameer Ali explains that he married the widow Sauda, for instance, because according to custom marriage was the only means by which he could protect and help her. On other occasions Muḥammad concluded marriage to unite two warring tribes.
The conviction is gradually
forcing itself on many Muslims
and students of the Qur’án that
Muḥammad actually advocated
monogamy, for he said: “You
may marry two, three, or four
wives, but not more, but if you
cannot deal equitably and justly
with all, you shall marry only
[Page 379]
one.” As it is not likely that a
man can be equally just to several
wives, Muḥammad’s hope
for the eventual establishment
of monogamy is certain. The subsequent
evolution of the status
of Islamic women bears this out.
Contrary to popular belief, Muslims
usually have only one wife,
and seldom more than two. A
Muslim may take a second wife
at the older wife’s suggestion,
who having given birth to several
children and needing help,
chooses for her husband another
wife, rather than see him having
promiscuous affairs with other
women. The young wife is subservient
to the first one, who
directs the household. This system
protected Muslim spinisters
from frustration and poverty,
which is one of the causes of
prostitution in the Western
world.
CONCLUSION
That Islám, like Christianity, was one of the most powerful influences for good in the history of civilization can no longer be denied. Regardless of color, race or wealth it enrolled into a brotherhood those who believed: “There is no God but God and Muḥammad is His Prophet.” It abolished idolatry and infanticide, taught good manners to barbarians, protected the orphans, treated slaves with consideration, prohibited intoxicating drinks, and released one of the greatest forces in history. That it drew its line of toleration otherwise than the Europeans did not make it less tolerant. The British were not more tolerant of widow-burning in India than the Muslims to the worship of idols. It is true that Islám drew the sword, but so did the Christians who participated in the massacre of the Huguenots, the slaughter of the Irish Catholics, the Inquisition and the annihilation of the Incas and Aztecs.
Islám was boiind to weaken and decline, as did all the other religions that preceded it. The life-cycle of every great religion passes through the inevitable stages of birth, adolescence, maturity and old age. Islám was no exception. Bitter controversies over succession divided it into the Shí’ih and the Sunní sects. Too much luxury in a hot climate combined with an increasing laxity toward a religion that was not easy to follow, eventually undermined the moral fibre of these Semitic races and, as they had never recovered from the Crusades and the Mongol invasion, decadence was inevitable.
Before its fall, however, Islám
made three major contributions
to civilization. First, it created
a nation-state, guaranteeing freedom
of worship and equal rights
[Page 380]
for all before the law. Second,
it developed the experimental
method in science, which was
unknown to the Greeks. And its
third contribution is the history
of Islám itself, perhaps the most
remarkable example of the influence
of religion on civilization.
Islám reminded a world, otherwise apt to forget, that God is real, that He manifests His Powers in different times and in different degrees according to the capacity of the people to whom He speaks. No man short of divine assistance could have accomplished in a hostile world the mission which was Muḥammad’s. Though the man of Mecca did not say the last word on the question of prophetic religion, his record bears witness to the creative spirit latent in more than one religion.
The greatest contribution of Moses consists in the conception of law and order, without which Western civilization could never have had its beginning. The Gospel of Jesus Christ will remain immortal for having given the refining influences of love and companionship to an unintegrated society and thus made life more bearable. Muḥammad went a step farther by uniting into a harmonious community tribes of various ethnical origin, and with the experimental method in science supplied the means for our modern nation-states and empires.
After all our civilization is based not only on the ten commandments of Moses. Were it so, we would have to call it Jewish. To call our civilization Christian is also historically inaccurate. It is up to future historians to prove to a generation less biased than our own, that the formative influences of our Western civilization are not only Hebrew and Christian but also Muḥammadan.
Bahá’u’lláh is taking humanity a step still farther and is contributing a new pattern-value to the civilization to come.
Unlike the Dispensation of Christ, unlike the Dispensation of Muḥammad, unlike all the Dispensations of the past, the apostles of Bahá’u’lláh in every land, wherever they labor and toil, have before them in clear, in unequivocal and emphatic language, all the laws, the regulations, the principles, the institutions, the guidance, they require for the prosecution of their task. . . . Therein lies the distinguishing feature of the Bahá’í Revelation. Therein lies the strength of the unity of the Faith, of the validity of a Revelation that claims not to destroy or belittle previous Revelations, but to connect, unify, and fulfill them. . . .
Editorial
How Civilizations Die
THE swift movement of world
events from 1919 to 1939
brought humanity to that stage
in the destruction of a long historic
cycle when inner incompatibility,
prejudice, fear and
ambition seize upon the instruments
of civilization and employ
the terms of political and economic
policy in order to render
to violence its supreme expression.
The trend became fixed and
irrevocable. Failing to yield itself
to the divine Will, human
will became victim to that frenzy
which is the more sinister because
it is no longer primitive
excitement but the crystallization
of implacable formulas of collective
power. The individual
consciousness is not scaled to
such vast areas of experience.
Spiritually little men raise up
artificial formulas to serve as
substitutes for the essential truths
uttered by the Prophet as He
walks among men.
The condition was defined by these words in a cablegram from Shoghi Effendi received in America August 30, 1939; “Shades (of) night, descending (upon) imperilled humanity, inexorably deepening.” Dark, encircling night, witnessing the setting of all the illumined heavenly bodies which had brought light to mankind in the past, hopeless of any new dawn, the state in which man learns that he must confront his own ignorance and his own evil!
What more can the civilized man do for himself and for others when the ends, the issues and the plans of existence have been seized from his grasp by Caesar and his legions? What more can the loyal follower of a sectarian creed accomplish for himself, his church or his neighbors when the ancestral world which the creed might have fitted is utterly abandoned, an empty house fallen to decay? How long can the stronger, cleverer few hope to fish in troubled waters when the hurricane engulfs even the dry land and dashes ships of steel against houses of stone? “(The) long-predicted world-encircling conflagation, essential pre-requisite (to) world unification, (is) inexorably moving to its appointed climax,” Shoghi Effendi cabled a few months later, in 1940.
Immersed in such a vast movement
of destiny, knowing that in
[Page 382]
this crisis there is no escape by
migration, discovery, even by
conquest and seizure, the Bahá’í
at moments turns back to significant
pictures by which human
feeling attempts to grasp the
meaning of times, people and
civilizations. One of these pictures
reveals the image of an
inhuman god; enthroned by a
powerful priesthood high above
the people, his belly a smoking
fire, his worship the sacrifice of
children torn from their mothers’
arms. Another uncovers the rising
waters of the great flood,
inch by inch submerging every
safety and every stronghold
which mankind has built for protection
against its foes. One sees,
finally, the Figure of the Holy
One walking on earth, asserting
truth and love against every
human argument and condition,
the miracle of history, shepherding
the lowly and sincere into
His Kingdom, judging and condemning
the cruel, the truthless,
the deniers.
Never in all recorded time has a destined destruction of civilization been stayed by any of the institutions, secular or religious, through which the civilization has developed to the degree of external glory and inner decay. All that has fed upon the civilization and exploited he weakness of its peoples, all that has attained influence and power for its own ends, all that depends directly or indirectly upon its injustice, goes down with the collapse of the civilization as parasites go down with the dying tree. For wars and revolutions to come, there must be a succession of awful prior defeats in the world of the soul. There must be abdications of truth and righteousness, there must be prostitutions of public privilege and power, there must be accommodations entered into with despoilers of the people. One by one the mighty walls raised by the people of faith must be undermined by creed, ceremony and policy before the hosts of the destroyers can enter the city gates. The work of evil goes on unchecked and unnoticed when leaders are busy in disputes concerning the priorities of institutional religion. At last the process culminates in necessity to uphold immoral public policy in the guise of programs for crisis. At last, having abandoned voluntary effort to remain true to the Faith of God, it becomes imperative for the multitudes to perform what their faith had originally condemned. Definitions of necessity are a last vain effort of man to remain rational when he has betrayed the true aim and function of reason.
No concentration of social
[Page 383]
force nor combination of moribund
institutions can restore the
youthful vigor and integrity that
have been lost. The spirit creates
the social institutions needed for
accomplishing tasks concerned
with the development of one historic
era. When the tool has done
its work, and different instruments
are needed, the institutions
are destroyed by that same
spirit, which then is engaged in
creating new and more effective
tools. But faith is the capacity
to live positively in and through
conditions which to the denier
seem to be utterly irreconcilable
and mutually exclusive. The beginnings
and the ends of all
things on earth are matters of
faith. The tenderest love which
the Prophet can convey, and the
violence of war itself, can to the
man of faith be one mystery.
The outcome of the trend when the power of destruction is manifest discloses the true nature of the prevalent human qualities and attitudes. Destruction is never merely the expression of one evil party in relation to another innocent party, for the outcome rests upon prior indifference and non-action as much as upon explosive ambition. The passive unwillingness of a great body of cultured, humane and civilized people in many countries to exert themselves sufficiently to establish either justice for their own poor or collective security for all nations, weak or powerful, provided the opportunity for the active forces to work. Those who build an anvil may deny having built the hammer, but in action the anvil and the hammer are one instrument and one function. That is why, in a time like the present, there can be so much apparent good and so much innocence, such wonderful virtues and such heroic suffering. Praiseworthy in relation to ethical standards of the past, they nevertheless did not suffice to stay the hand of the great destroyers. The eventual outcome of events is their condemnation.
But destruction itself is part of that larger order whose dynamic form is growth. The Bahá’ís find in their Faith complete assurance that this outer darkness will end and the light of spiritual knowledge cover the earth. By the elimination of the social patterns, which have become agencies of destruction, and the refutation of the human loyalties which serve to organize and perpetuate prejudice of race, creed, class and nation, the creative spirit sent down through Bahá’u’lláh will gradually disclose its own world pattern and establish it with the authority of truth and discipline in the hearts of men. —H. H.
RACE AND MAN
Book Review
MAYE HARVEY GIFT
Race and Man, by Maye Harvey Gift and Alice Simmons Cox. Bahá’í Publishing Committee, 1944.
RACE AND MAN, the fruit of
several years’ research, was
among the Bahá’í publications to
appear during the Centenary Year
of this world-wide Faith and its
fiftieth year in the United States of
North America. The compilation as
originally conceived dealt only with
the white and colored problem. However,
when Shoghi Effendi, Guardian
of the Bahá’í Faith, pointed out the
importance of the American Indian,
the Jewish and Eskimo minorities of
the Western Hemisphere, the manuscript
was revised accordingly. In its
final form its value to students of
race relations is considerably enhanced.
The scope and spirit of the volume may be glimpsed by thumbing through its pages. The foreword reads like this:
“It is with belief in the essential and indestructible oneness of the human race, and with confidence that the age of trial and decision through which the world is passing is a prelude to a universal era of brotherhood in all human affairs, that this compilation has been prepared.
“In Section I the words of scientists, sociologists and educators have been arranged to present the problem of race relations in this modern world, and the solution as great thinkers envision them. . . . In section II the Bahá’í Teachings are given according to a similar pattern. . . . Here we find the oneness of mankind revealed as the underlying truth of man’s relationship with man, and unity in diversity expressed as one great aspect of this truth as it must appear in the new world society to emerge after this present agony. . . . Here we find emphasized, not only the urgency of the problem of race prejudice and hatred, but also the necessity of solving it through a spirit of unity and love,—a spirit that must find expression through definite institutions of a social order designed for the good of all mankind.”
The Introduction furnishes sufficient background material and historical perspective for the fullest appreciation of the body of quotations. It presents the highlights of the past quarter of a century of Bahá’í activities in the United States, unfolding through the stages of race amity conventions and dinners into race unity as an integral feature of Bahá’í community life.
“The day for speaking of ‘race
unity,’” it points out, “has merged
into the day for proclaiming ‘race
unity.’ Gestures of tolerance and
goodwill which leave their participants
free to go back to the old
divisive attitudes, institutions and activities,
are no longer sufficient to
meet the world’s pressing needs.
They solve no problems. Recognition
of the oneness of the human
race is the next and inevitable step.
It is a new spiritual level which recreates
the individual and his whole
social fabric. Prejudice is transmuted
into appreciation, lines of
separation dissolve into avenues of
[Page 385]
association and cooperation. . . .
Unity involves no loss of distinctive
attributes; on the contrary, its life-imparting
power invests the individual
with widened horizons enriched
by hitherto unsuspected potentialities
of all his fellow-men. Uniformity
can come only from blind imitation
of out-moded standards.”
The ideals and accomplishments of the Bahá’í Faith outlined in the introductory pages “present no isolated phenomenon. They are related to and form an integral part of the whole pattern of human culture unfolding throughout the ages.” The brief survey of history given shows that the great civilizations—Jewish, Zoroastrian, Buddhist, Christian and Muḥammadan—have sprung from the impetus imparted by a unique spiritual genius, the Prophet of the age.
The coming world order cannot be made up of a conglomeration of mutually exclusive and conflicting man-made formulae. The new world order will be the expanding expression of spiritual truth in social forms suited to twentieth century needs and aspirations. Facing, as we do today, the inadequacy of nationhood, the widest unity society has so far attained, the unifying of all peoples is the inescapable and culminating step in human progress.
“It is as simple in solution as the integrating of tribes, city, state and nations in the past. It is as difficult, on the other hand, as lifting the human soul from its selfish animal motivations into spiritual consciousness and a new morality. For the problem is always a moral and spiritual one.” “Cycle after cycle of progress has altered the size and special character of social units, until now modern material and intellectual development has opened an era of world-wide intercourse and interdependence. But the spiritual virtues are the same. . . . Human oneness, which man first learned to apply in small groups, begins to operate as the universal law it actually is, to include all mankind. . . .”
The paged outline prepares the reader for the comprehensive range of material quoted from some ninety leaders of scientific thought. The fallacy of basic racial differences is exploded. The importance of the modern race problem is shown not only in its relation to the minorities considered, but to America and to the world at large. Suggestions for uplifting and unifying the races are listed, and specific solutions, such as cultural pluralism, racial nationalism and unity in diversity are evaluated. And finally, America’s responsibility for world leadership in unifying the races is acknowledged.
The soundness of the method used is evident in the conception of science and religion as the two wings of human uplift. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, after showing religion and science to be the measure of human understanding, with no real contradiction between these two aspects of Truth, says:
“When religion, shorn of its superstitions, traditions and unintelligent dogmas, shows its conformity with science, there will be a great cleansing force in the world, which will sweep before it all wars, disagreements, discords and struggles—and then will mankind be united in the power of the love of God.”
The Spiritual Section begins with
the teachings available in Jewish,
Christian and Islamic sacred writings
as evidence that former Prophets
have recognized men as brothers
under one God. The rest is devoted
[Page 386]
to the Bahá’í sacred writings proclaiming
that the accomplishment of
human oneness is destined for this
age; that it will result in the establishment
of the Kingdom of God on
earth as the form of human society,
and calling for vigorous action to
bring Bahá’u’lláh’s program to a
speedy realization.
The compilation closes with a detailed biographical and bibliographical section.
The following extract from the pen of Louis Gregory serves to connect the scientific and spiritual sections of the compilation. After quoting from DuBois’ famed Litany of Atlanta:
“‘Bewildered are we and passion tost, mad with the madness of a mobbed and mocked and murdered people; straining at the armposts of Thy Throne. . . . Tell us the plan; give us the sign; whisper—speak, call, great God, show us the way and point us the path!” Mr. Gregory continues, “Heaven and earth heard that piercing cry, uttered by one, echoed by millions. Earth and Heaven answered. The chivalry of the South shook off its indifference for a better acquaintance with its black neighbors, and to inaugurate a campaign of education against mob rule. Heaven’s answer, no less specific, brought . . . ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Servant of God, who appeared in 1912 before the National Association for the Advancement of the Colored people . . . and briefly unfolded to them the program of God for human relief. It was a message from the living God upon Whom they had called. . . . They received both the message and the messenger with joyous acclaim, but in the hurly-burly, soon forgot. . . .
“This Most Great Reconstruction which the majestic Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh brings to view, is not black or white or yellow or brown or red, yet all of these. It is the power of divine outpouring and endless perfections for mankind.”
NAW-RÚZ
Elizabeth Hackley
- The reawakening of life;
- The peace that conquers selfish strife;
- The hope that rises strong and free,
- Born of faith and love for Thee;
- The faith that spirit will avail
- Within my life, and will prevail
- Among the struggling sons of earth:
- All these are symbols of rebirth,
- Are signs of Thy dear guidance, Lord,
- As Thy great love, the mystic cord,
- Draws us from winter’s grief and fear
- Into the springtime of the year.
THE LIGHT OF LIFE
Vinson Brown
- Down in the darkness my mind was struggling;
- The shadows of gloom were surging around me.
- Lord, I saw You as far off light on a hill,
- And my soul cried for You as a child cries for its mother.
- Once I thought I could walk alone like a rogue elephant.
- Proud I was in the pride of mind and my knowledge.
- Science was my god and the laws of science.
- “This is enough,” I said, “to guide a man on right pathways.
- What more does a mature man need than scientific laws?
- There is nothing beyond the grave save only darkness.”
- Yet foolish was I in my talk of wisdom,
- As a deer is foolish who beards the tiger,
- As a rabbit is foolish who rests on the coils of a serpent.
- Deceived was I by my own pride of knowledge.
- There are dark places in the mind, unfathomed depths,
- Shadows that cover explosive destruction.
- Those who are most intelligent, most sensitive,
- Can be touched with disaster more quickly,
- As a flame catches in a roll of celluloid,
- As a fire runs through dry grass in summer.
- Lord, I woke one day in the greatest darkness,
- Alone with the terrible aloneness of the blind.
- Stripped from me was the shield of science,
- Naked my soul before the terror of the unknown.
- Then I rose from the dust to come to Thee.
- But pitiful were my struggles through ignorance.
- I read from holy books, but my mind cried out:
- “How can I believe these things that are written?
- Are they not contrary to science and reason?”
- But You sent Your light to me
- And I saw it shining afar in the darkness
- Like a lighthouse guiding a ship through utter storm.
- The obstacles were swept away from my eyes.
- I saw the truth as a mirror reflects all before it.
- Lord, Your love has found me out in my path of error.
- It has destroyed the fear that stalked my nights.
- It has made of me a whole man, standing upright.
- No thanks I can give would pay for this miracle.
WITH OUR READERS
THE following story from Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada, seems a
fitting supplement in actual experience
to Emeric Sala’s article on
Islám which is completed in this
issue. The story is adapted and condensed
from the words of the writer:
A few weeks ago we Bahá’ís in this northwestern city of Edmonton together with the charming teacher who was visiting us at that time, were guests of the Moslems who reside here. If the home to which we were invited had of its own accord come to life and opened its arms to receive us we could not have felt more welcome. Many of the Moslems were present when we arrived and on all their faces was an intense look of wanting us and of anticipation to hear what our speaker had to tell them.
The speaker could not have been awarded more complete attention and when she mentioned different places and experiences in the Holy Land the gentle nodding of heads told eloquently of well remembered incidents in their own lives while living in distant lands. They would have had her continue far into the night, had it been possible, and when she concluded such an ovation was given that I am sure she will long remember. Then followed question after question and our speaker used great wisdom in showing conclusively the high place accorded the Prophet Muḥammad by the Bahá’í Faith and in drawing to their attention the fact that Bahá’ís fully realize the wealth of scientific and artistic knowledge and discoveries that followed the spread of the Muḥammadan religion.
While the men talked and discussed with members of the Bahá’í group, the lovely, dark haired Syrian ladies filled their position as hostesses. At least three different types of delicacies had been prepared for the guests. So many delectable edibles I had not seen since war pointed its gloomy finger in our direction. And how reluctant they all were to have us go and how urgent that we come again soon, individually or together.
In these days of necessarily rigid gas rationing one no longer expects or even hopes for a ride home. Not so with these open hearted and generous people. Had it been their last gallon I feel sure they would have gladly contributed it for not one of us walked or resorted to the trolley but were literally piled in layers in the only available car, that of our host.
It was a remark made by one of
the younger Moslem girls that struck
us all forcibly. She said never had
she been so surprised as when she
walked into her father’s living room
and saw that these guests of his were
obviously of Anglo-Saxon origin.
Such a thing just did not happen.
In fact when this young lady had
been a student at one of our specialized
colleges she had been asked
whether or not she were heathen.
Why then, she wished to know,
should these Bahá’ís come and not
only treat them as equals but like
them, too? It was a pleasure to explain
just why it was so and a bond
[Page 389]
of friendship began to grow. As a
sign of the sincere friendliness of
this group of Moslems we Bahá’ís
have been offered the use of the hall
below the Mosque at any time.
What a proof this experience is that if we as Bahá’ís cultivate the friendship and trust of other races and creeds and in return wholeheartedly give them ours, and if we can show them, too, that we have no wish to exploit either their beliefs or their prophets, surely this age of terrific religious disunity will gradually disappear of its own sheer disability to nourish itself.
* * *
“The Birth of the Bahá’í Revelation,” our leading article this month, is taken from Chapter VI in God Passes By. Never before has man been allowed such an intimate picture of how Divine Revelation comes to the chosen Revealer as is given in this chapter, much of it recorded in Bahá’u’lláh’s own words. One is moved to ask, Is man worthy of this bounty? Yet, can anyone read this chapter and doubt that God has spoken once more to man?
Our constant readers are familiar with this book by Shoghi Effendi. In our January issue we published Horace Holley’s summary of the book and in previous issues we have published chapters one and two and Archdeacon Townshend’s introduction to the book. It is available from the Bahá’í Publishing Committee.
The section entitled “Islám” concludes the article begun in our February issue. The two sections are excerpts from the manuscript of a book by Emeric Sala entitled A Supranational Community. Religious prejudice, especially that between Christians and Moslems is largely due to ignorance and tradition. Historical facts such as those presented by Mr. Sala should do much to help us rid ourselves of these prejudices. Mr. Sala’s home is in Montreal where, we understand he conducts an import business. He serves the Bahá’í Cause in many ways there and in other places.
In his editorial “How Civilizations Die” Horace Holley adds further illumination to the subject.
Maye Harvey Gift in writing of Race and Man contributes the third in our series of surveys of Bahá’í literature. Mrs. Gift and Mrs. Cox collaborated in the painstaking task of compiling this valuable book and Mrs. Gift’s modesty has prevented her from giving sufficient praise to the book. Here is well illustrated the Bahá’í principle that humanity needs two wings with which to advance and that we may think of science as one wing and religion as the other. Mrs. Gift has contributed many articles to World Order and serves the Faith in many ways in Peoria, Illinois, her home city.
A new contributor to World Order is Vinson Brown whose poem, “The Light of Life” is sent by the author with the hope it might be of benefit to some other soul who is struggling for light. It was when the writer was passing through a crisis in his life that he learned of the Bahá’í Faith. Mr. Brown became a declared Bahá’í just before his induction into the army.
Elizabeth Hackley, whose poem, “Naw-Rúz” appears in this number, contributes both prose and poetry to World Order. Her review of introductory books to the Bahá’í Faith was in our February issue.
The index for volume ten completes this issue. Our April number will begin volume eleven.
INDEX
WORLD ORDER
VOLUME TEN, APRIL, 1944-MARCH, 1945
TITLES
‘Abdu’l-Bahá: in America, by Marzieh Gail,
110
America: The Destiny of, by William Kenneth Christian, 67; and the Most Great Peace, by Rowland Estall, 99
American Bahá’í Community, The Growth of the, by Marion Holley, 194
Americas, The Meeting of the, 1. Cosmic Mission of the Americas, by Philip Leonard Green, 79; 2. Bahá’u’lláh’s Gift to Latin America, by Octavio Illescas, 85; 3. The Awakening of Latin America, by Mrs. Stuart W. French, 87
Answer, World! Poem, by Angela Morgan, 178
Assemblies, Primer for Bahá’í, by Marzieh Gail, 208
Awakening, Spiritual, Editorial, by Gertrude K. Henning, 315
Báb: Farewell Address to the Letters of the Living, The, 36; Utterances of the, 39; Captivity in Adhirbáyján, by Shoghi Effendi, 43; A Personal Impression of, by Dr. Cormick, 65; Commemoration of the Declaration of, 183
Bábí Revelation, The Birth of the, by Shoghi Effendi, 1
Bahá’í: Faith, Introductions to, by Elizabeth Hackley, 347; The Beginnings of, in America, by Mariam Haney, 355; The Birth of the, by Shoghi Effendi, 361
Bahá’u’lláh’s Tribute to the Báb, 35
Bible: A World, Editorial, by Horace Holley, 251; Understanding the, Editorial, by Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick, 344
Carnival Is Over, The, Poem, by Sylvia Margolis, 130
Centenary: Bahá’í, Banquet, Editorial, by Gertrude K. Henning, 137; The Chairman’s Introductory Remarks, by Albert R. Windust, 139; Radio Program, 154; Articles in World Order Magazine, 293
Christ, The Second Coming of, by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 41
Civilizations, How, Die, Editorial, by Horace Holley, 381
Communion With the Infinite, by Horace Holley, 217
Crisis of Our Age, The, Book Review, by Garreta Busey, 162
Dawn, Poem, by Florence W. Mayberry, 230
Dispensation, The New, by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 306
Dreamers We Want, Poem, by Sylvia Margolis, 346
Etchings, by Amy Brady Dwelly, 325
Example, His Heavenly, Editorial, by Horace Holley, 63
Faith Must Stand, Poem, by Clara Edmunds-Hemingway, 244
Friend, A Bahá’í, Poem, by Mary A. McClennen, 189
God: The Day of, Frontispiece, by Bahá’u’lláh, 33; The Gifts of, Editorial, by Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick, 190; The Beloved of, by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 257; Equal Before, Editorial, by Garreta Busey, 280; God Passes By, a Summary, by Horace Holley, 297; The day of, Poem, by Beatrice Irwin, 349
Heaven, A New, Editorial, by Garreta Busey, 123
Hills, Unto the, Poem, by Clara E. Hill, 207
House of Worship; A Universal, 1. Its Construction, by Allen B. McDaniel, 73; 2. Its Significance, by Carl Scheffler, 75; The Architect’s Design, by Earl H. Reed, 105; Dedication of the Bahá’í, 179
Human Development, The Purpose of, Book Review, by Arthur Dahl, 220
Humanity: The Oneness of, by William Kenneth Christian, 92; One,—One Religion, a Symposium, by Edgar Lee Hewitt and E. Lenore Morris, 233
Illimani—“Condor of Silver,” Poem, by Flora Emily Hottis, 292
Inter-American Fellowship, The Spirit of, by Loulie A. Mathews, 120
Islám: Part One, 338; Part Two, 373; by Emeric Sala
Jew, Tablet to a, by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 224
Letter of the Living, Poem, by Alice Simmons Cox, 250
[Page 391]
Light of Life, The, Poem, by Vinson
Brown, 387
Love and Justice, by Erna Schmidt, 317
Man: of Today, The, Poem, by Edwinna Powell Clifford, 305; The Predicament of Modern, Book Review, by Arthur Dahl, 350
Mankind, The Races of, Book Review, by Arthur Dahl, 192
Mexican Community, by Florence De Bell Keemer, 165
Mission, The, of Bahá’u’lláh, by G. Townshend, 332
Mormon Prophecy, The Fulfillment of, by Artemus Lamb, 258
Naw-Rúz, Poem, by Elizabeth Hackley, 386
Ordinances, Bahá’í, by Garreta Busey, 254
Orient and Occident—1844, Editorial, by Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick, 90
Peace: World’s, Dedication to the, Editorial, by Garreta Busey, 18; A Highway to Enduring, by David S. Ruhe, 282
Pioneering at Home, by Marguerite True, 289
Post-War Cooperation, Steps Toward, by Arthur Dahl, 320
Prayer of Desperation, Editorial, by Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick, 215
Race and Man, Book Review, by Maye Harvey Gift, 384
Radio Symposium, A, 225
Religion: The Oneness of, by Mrs. Charles Reed Bishop, 131; Comes Again to Mankind, by Dorothy Baker, 169; Renewal of, by H. M. Manji, 201
Ridván, Feast of, References, 30
Security, Divine, by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 329
Severance, Poem, by Gretchen Westervelt, 354
Soul: Does Soul Survive Body?, by Louis G. Gregory, 265
Tests, by Reginald King, 353
Thanksgiving, by William Kenneth Christian, 245
Unity, The Call to, by Marion Holley and Shirley Warde, 275
With Our Readers, by Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick, 31, 71, 104, 135, 167, 199, 231, 263, 327, 358, 388
World: A-Coming, New, by Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick, 28; The, in Transformation, by Horace Holley, 271
World Democracy and the Races, by Robert W. Kenney, 21
World Unity: Social Basis of, by Elsie Austin, 125; Religious Foundations of, by Raymond Frank Piper, 141; A Radio Program for, 247
AUTHORS
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Second Coming of Christ, 41; Tablet to a Jew, 224; The Beloved of God, 257; The New Dispensation, 306; Divine Security, 329
Austin, Elsie, Social Basis of World Unity, 125
Báb, Farewell Address to the Letters of the Living, 36; Utterances of the, 39
Bahá’u’lláh, The Day of God, 33; Tribute to the Báb, 35
Baker, Dorothy, Religion Comes Again to Mankind, 169
Bishop, Mrs. Charles Reed, The Oneness of Religion, 131
Brown, Vinson, The Light of Life, Poem, 387
Busey, Garreta, Dedication to the World’s Peace, 18; A New Heaven, 123, The Crisis of Our Age, 162; Bahá’í Ordinances, 254; Equal Before God, 280
Christian, William Kenneth, The Destiny of America, 67; The Oneness of Humanity, 92; Thanksgiving, 245
Clifford, Edwinna Powell, The Man of Today, Poem, 305
Cormick, Dr., A Personal Impression of the Báb, 65
Cox, Alice Simmons, Letter of the Living, Poem, 250
Dahl, Arthur, The Races of Mankind, 192; The Purpose of Human Development, 220; Steps Toward Post-War Cooperation, 320; The Predicament of Modern Man, 350
Dwelly, Amy Brady, Etchings, 325
Estall, Rowland, America and the Most Great Peace, 99
French, Mrs. Stuart W., The Meeting of the Americas—The Awakening of Latin America, 87
Gail, Marzieh ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in America, 110; Primer for Bahá’í Assemblies, 208
Gift, Maye Harvey, Race and Man, 384
Green, Philip Leonard, The Meeting of the Americas—Cosmic Mission of the Americas, 79
[Page 392]
Gregory, Louis G., Does Soul Survive
Body?, 265
Hackley, Elizabeth, Introductions to the Bahá’í Faith, 347; Naw-Rúz, Poem, 386
Haney, Mariam, The Beginnings of Bahá’í Activity in America, 355
Hemingway, Edmunds, Clara, Faith Must Stand, Poem, 244
Henning, Gertrude K., Bahá’í Centenary Banquet, 137; Spiritual Awakening, 315
Hewett, Edgar Lee, One Humanity—One Religion, 233
Hill, Clara E., Unto the Hills, Poem, 207
Holley, Horace, His Heavenly Example, 63; Communion With the Infinite, 217; A World Bible, 251; The World in Transformation, 271; God Passes By, 297; How Civilizations Die, 381
Holley, Marion, The Growth of the American Bahá’í Community, 194; The Call to Unity, 275
Hottis, Flora Emily, Illimani—“Condor of Silver,” Poem, 292
Illescas, Octavio, The Meeting of the Americas—Bahá’u’lláh’s Gift to Latin America, 85
Irwin, Beatrice, The Day of God, Poem, 349
Keemer, Florence De Bell, Mexican Community, 165
Kenney, Robert W., World Democracy and the Races, 21
King, Reginald, Tests, 353
Kirkpatrick, Bertha Hyde, New World A-Coming, 28; 1844—Orient and Occident, 90; The Gifts of God, 190; Prayer of Desperation, 215; Understanding the Bible, 344; With Our Readers, 31, 71, 104, 135, 167, 199, 231, 263, 295, 327, 358, 388
Lamb, Artemus, The Fulfillment of Mormon Prophecy, 258
Manji, H. M., Renewal of Religion, 201
Margolis, Sylvia, The Carnival Is Over, Poem, 130; Dreamers We Want, Poem, 346
Mathews, Loulie A., The Spirit of Inter-American Fellowship, 120
Mayberry, Florence V., Dawn, Poem, 230
McClennen, Mary A., A Bahá’í Friend, Poem, 189
McDaniel, Allen B., A Universal House of Worship—Its Construction, 73
Morgan, Angela, Answer, World!, Poem, 178
Morris, E. Lenore, One Humanity—One Religion, 240
Piper, Raymond Frank, Religious Foundations of World Unity, 141
Reed, Earl H., The Architect’s Design, 105
Ruhe, David S., A Highway to Enduring Peace, 282
Sala, Emeric, Islám, Part One, 338; Part Two, 373
Scheffler, Carl, A Universal House of Worship —Its Significance, 75
Schmidt, Erna, Love and Justice, 317
Shoghi Effendi, The Birth of the Bábí Revelation, 1; The Báb’s Captivity in Adhirbáyján, 43; The Birth of the Bahá’í Revelation, 361
Townshend, G., The Mission of Bahá’u’lláh, 332
True, Marguerite, Pioneering at Home, 289
Warde, Shirley, The Call to Unity, 275
Westervelt, Gretchen, Severance, Poem, 354
Windust, Albert R., Banquet Chairman’s Introductory Remarks, 139
Bahá’í Literature
Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, selected and translated by
Shoghi Effendi. The Bahá’í teachings on the nature of religion, the soul,
the basis of civilization and the oneness of mankind. Bound in fabrikoid.
360 pages. $2.00.
The Kitáb-i-Íqán, translated by Shoghi Effendi. This work (The Book of Certitude) unifies and coordinates the revealed Religions of the past, demonstrating their oneness in fulfillment of the purposes of Revelation. Bound in cloth. 262 pages. $2.50.
Prayers and Meditations by Bahá’u’lláh, selected and translated by Shoghi Effendi. The supreme expression of devotion to God; a spiritual flame which enkindles the heart and illumines the mind. 348 pages. Bound in fabrikoid. $2.00.
Bahá’í Prayers, a selection of Prayers revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, each Prayer translated by Shoghi Effendi. 72 pages. Bound in fabrikoid, $0.75. Paper cover, $0.35.
Some Answered Questions. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's explanation of questions concerning the relation of man to God, the nature of the Manifestation, human capacities, fulfillment of prophecy, etc. Bound in cloth. 350 pages. $1.50.
The Promulgation of Universal Peace. In this collection of His American talks, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá laid the basis for a firm understanding of the attitudes, principles and spiritual laws which enter into the establishment of true Peace. 492 pages. Bound in cloth. $2.50.
The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, by Shoghi Effendi. On the nature of the new social pattern revealed by Bahá’u’lláh for the attainment of divine justice in civilization. Bound in fabrikoid. 234 pages. $1.50.
God Passes By, by Shoghi Effendi. The authoritative documented historical survey of the Bahá’í Faith through the four periods of its first century. The Ministry of the Báb, the Ministry of Bahá’u’lláh, the Ministry of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and the Inception of the Formative Age (1921-1944). In these pages the world’s supreme spiritual drama unfolds. xxiii plus 412 pages. Bound in fabrikoid. $2.50
BAHÁ’Í PUBLISHING COMMITTEE
110 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois
THE BAHÁ’Í FAITH
Recognizes the unity of God and His Prophets,
Upholds the principle of an unfettered search after truth,
Condemns all forms of superstition and prejudice,
Teaches that the fundamental purpose of religion is to promote concord and harmony, that it must go hand in hand with science, and that it constitutes the sole and ultimate basis of a peaceful, an ordered and progressive society. . . .
Inculcates the principle of equal opportunity, rights and privileges for both sexes,
Advocates compulsory education,
Abolishes extremes of poverty and wealth.
Exalts work performed in the spirit of service to the rank of worship,
Recommends the adoption of an auxiliary international language, . . .
Provides the necessary agencies for the establishment and safeguarding of a permanent and universal peace.